


Baby, I'll Find A Way

by Holisticgay



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Prince Lance (Voltron), Rating might go up, Secret Relationship
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-29
Updated: 2018-12-04
Packaged: 2019-04-29 14:59:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 21,473
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14475177
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Holisticgay/pseuds/Holisticgay
Summary: Lance, a young Prince with no worries, befriends a servant in the castle. He knows it's not allowed, so keeping it a secret is important. But that ends up being harder than he thought it would be when feelings grow, and all he wants to do is show Keith off to the world.





	1. Your Highness

They both know how much of a risk this is; meeting up in secret. Moreso for Keith, being a servant. Prince Lance will get a scolding at most, but they both know Keith would lose his job in the castle, could very well get some sort of physical punishment as well for speaking to anyone in the Royal Family. He had been heavily warned when on his first day. 

 

_ “Don’t even so much as glance at any of them, do you understand? If one of them is in the room, keep your eyes on the ground. Do I need to explain what will happen to you if you speak a single word to them?” His boss had said, shaking an angry finger at him as if he didn’t trust him to follow directions.  _

 

Which, to be fair to him, he had every right to not trust Keith. Judging by how he is currently sitting in the castle gardens, speaking with none other than the youngest Prince. He honestly had no intention of this happening. But Lance, ever the stubborn prince, insisted on him taking a walk with him. 

 

And he knew he shouldn’t have agreed. Knew he should have kept his head down and left the room when the Prince entered. But of course the only exit was blocked by Lance. 

 

He didn’t notice anyone had entered the room, he had been busy washing the dishes in the kitchen when there was a crash behind him. When he turned around, he was met with the sight of a boy- Prince Lance, Keith recognizes- leaning over a bowl of grapes he had dropped on the ground. He didn’t notice Keith standing there until he was done picking them up. Keith instantly looked down when the Prince seen his, but he had already seen Keith’s face. Already caught Keith looking at him like he knew he wasn’t supposed to do.

 

“Oh! You look so tired, have you been working all day?” Keith almost looked up in shock, that wasn’t what he expected the young Prince to say. He nodded at his question, sight still locked on the stone tiles under his feet. The prince tsked and walked forward, gently grabbing Keith’s chin and lifting it so he was looking into his eyes. “You should take a break. I’m sure you deserve it.” He had said with a smile, ignoring Keith’s terrified expression. 

 

“I… I’m… not supposed to, Your Highness…” Keith looked away from his face, focusing intensely to the side. His efforts were pointless, however, as Lance simply moved his head into Keith’s view again. 

 

“Please? Come on, take a walk with me. If anyone asks, I ordered you to help me with something. They can’t punish you if I didn’t give you a choice.” Keith knew that wasn’t true. But judging by the innocent look on Lance’s face, he must not know that his boss couldn’t care less. If he found out, Keith would be back on the streets within seconds. 

 

But of course, Keith couldn’t think straight. With the Prince smiling so happily at him and sounding so desperate to get Keith to join him, all he could do was nod. 

 

“Perfect!” Prince Lance clasped his hands in front of his chest, grinning widely. 

 

Thus beginning the most nerve wrecking thing to ever happen to Keith. They had walked silently through the castle halls for around half an hour, but after almost running into a few other staff members, Keith insisted that he either go back, or they go somewhere with less people, as to not get caught. 

 

Prince Lance seemed happier with this idea, not hesitating to grab Keith’s arm and drag him to the back courtyard and into the garden, lined with tall bushes that served to protect them from prying eyes. 

 

“How long have you worked at the castle, I don’t believe I’ve seen you around before?” Lance spoke as soon as they reached the centre of the garden, a wide opening with benches and a fountain in the middle. 

 

“Two weeks, Your Highness. I’m not supposed to leave the kitchens.” Keith had gone back to keeping his eyes cast down, but when Lance let out a loud laugh, he automatically looks up at him. 

 

“Oh, please, you can just address me as Lance when we are not in the castle. No one’s around, and I’m not too fond of such titles, anyways.” He waves his hand in the air dismissively.

 

“O-okay, Your- Lance. Okay, Lance.” Lance hums happily before turning to face Keith again. 

 

“Forgive me for not asking before, but what is your name?” Lance scoots over on the bench, now close enough to press their shoulders together and all Keith can think about is the difference in their clothes. Lance with his fancy, expensive fabrics lined with gold stitching, and Keith, with his hand-me-down clothes that have been resewn and patched together countless times. He doesn’t deserve to be here. Not with a Prince. 

 

“I… I should get back, I’ve been gone for too long.” Keith stands up but before he can walk away, Prince Lance grabs his hand. He’s frowning now and it makes Keith wish he could stay with him for hours on end if it would make him happy again. 

 

“I at least need a name for such a beautiful face.” Keith can feel his face heat up and his shoulders tense at the Prince’s words. He’s still looking at Keith expectantly, hopeful, so there’s no way he could deny his request, Prince or not. 

 

“Keith.” He forces out though all his nerves screaming at him to just leave already. 

 

“Hm. Well, Keith,” His mind is reeling as Lance stands up and brings Keith’s hand up to kiss his knuckles gently, maintaining eye contact. He leaves his lips against Keith’s skin as he continues speaking. “I truly do hope you will join me for another walk sometime. Soon, if possible.” 

 

“If possible.” Keith repeats in a daze, then nods his head. Lance smiles again and lets go of Keith’s hand. 

 

“Perfect.” Lance sits back down on the bench and neither of them say anything else as Keith turns to leave the garden, heading back to work and thinking of excuses for why he has been missing for so long. 

 

  
  


 

The next time Keith sees Prince Lance, it’s entirely on accident. He had been on his way back to his quarters after working all day again, ready to go straight to bed and sleep until sunrise. Of course, though, his plan was cut short when he turns a corner and crashes into another body. 

 

“Oh, I’m very sorry, I didn’t mean to-” He bows automatically and hopes to every God and Goddess up in heaven that it’s not member of the Royal Family, because he would very much like to keep his head. 

 

“Keith?” His head whips up at the voice of Prince Lance, who’s looking down at him in shock, which quickly turns to a frown. “I’ve been trying to find you for the past week. I’ve been down to the kitchens everyday, but no one would talk to me when I ask about you. I thought you had left.” 

 

“I’m sorry, Your Highness.” Keith bows again, staying bent over while he talks. “My boss moved me from the kitchens as punishment for taking a break.” 

 

Lance gasps and grabs Keith’s shoulders to stand him up. “You aren’t allowed a break  _ at all _ ? I thought it was just a matter of how long you were gone?” 

 

“Servants must work through their entire shift, Your Highness. If we must take a break, they take it out of our wages for not working.” Lance’s face turns from worry to anger and he removes his hands from Keith’s shoulders to ball them up at his sides. 

 

“That’s not right. No one should have to work nonstop for hours without a break.” Lance seems to be talking to himself now, mumbling and shaking his head in disbelief. 

 

“It’s really not a problem, Your Highness, we are used to-” 

 

“That doesn’t matter! I will have a talk with my father and the staff manager about this. I’m sorry you have all been working under such conditions, If I had known earlier I would have done something about it.” Keith is taken aback over how sincere Prince Lance is about all this. When he had started, most everyone he works with had talked about how rude the Royal Family is and how they don’t care for their staff. Maybe Prince Lance is the only exception. 

 

“Thank you, Your Highness.” Keith tries to bow again but Lance stops him. 

 

“You look ridiculous when you bow.” Lance snorts. “Come. You can thank me with a walk.” Lance smiles and begins walking down the hall, the opposite way from Keith’s room. He gives one last glance towards his destination before turning and joining Lance, walking side by side. 

There’s no one up walking the halls at this time of night, so they have no reason to be worried about getting caught, but they still make their way outside to the gardens. Keith knows it’s probably just for security incase someone does happen to be awake and catch him interacting with the prince. But he likes to pretend it’s because it’s their own special place; a place for just the two of them to be together and be happy without being bothered by social structures. 

 

And it is, in a way. But not in the way Keith pretends it to be. Not in the way Lance pretends it to be, either. 

 

“Sooo,” Lance sits him down on the bench and presses up against him again. “Come here often?” He smirks at Keith and shoots him a wink that causes his ears to turn red.  

 

“Oh, Um… This is only my second time being here, so, no.” 

 

“Well, hopefully you will be able to start coming here more. With me, I mean.” Lance laughs and rests his head on Keith’s shoulder, which instantly tenses at contact. “Hey, relax. You won’t get in trouble. I promise.” Keith knows he can’t keep that promise, but he doesn’t say anything. He takes a few deep breaths and tries to relax his muscles. 

 

They sit in silence until the last bit of gold in the sky disappears behind the horizon and the moon is bright overhead. Keith knows he should have been asleep already, knows work the next morning is going to be hell if he doesn’t get some rest, but he can’t will himself to leave. It’s an issue that he knows he should fix, he shouldn’t let himself interact with the Prince like this. Maybe he should just quit before he-

 

“Hey.” Lance speaks softly and adjusts his head so he can look at Keith from the corner of his eyes. “You tensed up again. What are you thinking about?” 

 

“I shouldn’t be here with you.” Keith whispers and Lance immediately sits up, frowning.  

 

“ _ What _ ? Because I’m a Prince?” 

 

“Because I’m a servant.” Keith can feel Lance’s eyes on him, but he can’t bring himself to look back. 

 

“Why should that matter?” Lance sighs dramatically and leans back on the bench. “I don’t care if you’re not royalty or even high class, Keith.” Keith doesn’t reply so Lance continues. 

 

“I’m sorry if I pressured you to spend time with me, I knew you were worried about getting in trouble. I just… I don’t know. I got lost in the castle and when I found you in the kitchen I thought it’d be fun to have someone to talk to, I guess?” Keith can’t stop the little laugh that makes its way out and Lance sits up straight again, looking at him in shock. 

 

“Wha- You can  _ laugh _ ?” Lance asks seriously. 

 

Keith snorts and nods. “How did you get lost in your  _ own home _ ?”

 

“Oh, come on!” Lance throws his hands up. “Have you seen how big the castle is? I wasn’t allowed to explore  _ any  _ of it until my 18th birthday. And even then I never had time to until that day I met you. And tonight. Which, if I’m being honest, I was lost again. So I’m glad I found you so you could guide us out here.” 

 

Keith just laughs harder and Lance tries to scowl at him but only lasts a few seconds before joining in. “You are, without a doubt, hopeless.” 

 

Lance playfully punches his shoulder. “Hey! I resent that!” 

 

“My apologies,  _ Your Highness _ .” Keith bows his head while laughing. “Just remember, I can’t be there to help you every time you get yourself lost, so be careful.” 

 

“I am very careful, thank you very much.” Lance turns his head a bit and sticks his nose into the air, closing his eyes before opening one of them to look and smiling at Keith. 

 

“Oh, of course, how could I make such a misjudgment.” 

 

“You’re so mean when you’re not panicking.” Lance points out and Keith goes back to being nervous. 

 

“Sorry, I, I didn’t mean to-”

 

“Hey, hey, hey. It’s okay, I swear. I think it’s funny. Besides, I know you’re just joking.” 

 

“Oh, sure. Joking.” 

 

“Hey!” Lance punches his shoulder again and they go back to laughing. 

 

They spend the next couple of hours pointing out stars and making up stories to go along with pretend constellations. Keith can feel when Prince Lance is looking at him, and sometimes, when he’s not feeling as nervous, he’ll look back and they’ll just smile and take in each other’s features that are lit up by the silver glow of the moon above them. 

 

It’s one of the nicest nights either of them have had in a while, though neither of them voice that. 

  
  


Lance ends up with his head on Keith’s shoulder again, and after a while of silence from the Prince, Keith realizes he has fallen asleep. He rolls his shoulder a few times before nudging him until he wakes up. 

 

“Hmmm, did we fall asleep?” Lance mumbles as he sits up to stretch. He lets out a yawn while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, and Keith can’t help but smile at how cute he looks when he wakes up. He hopes he’s able to witness it more. But he knows he can’t let this keep happening. He can’t risk getting caught with the Prince. 

 

“You did. Come on, let’s get you to your bed.” Keith stands up and offers his hand to Lance to help him up as well, but he doesn’t end up letting go after he’s on his feet. Neither of them let go until they’re standing at the bottom of the stairs that lead up to the floor containing Lance’s room, and all the rooms of the other Prince and Princess’. Keith has already broken so many rules, but he can’t bring himself to risk going up there. 

 

“Sleep well, My Prince.” Keith bows once more before turning to walk towards his own room. 

 

“G-good night, Keith!” Lance calls from the stairs. He stays still, watching Keith until he turns a corner and disappears out of his sight. Keeping a hand on his cheek that he can tell is overheating, Lance makes his way up the wide spiraling staircase. He ignores each guard on the floor as he makes his way to his room, in a daze and unable to pull himself out. 

 

He knows this is an issue. He can’t let him hopeless romantic side get the best of him. His father would surely kill him if he falls for a servant. Or kill Keith.

 

It’s that thought that makes Lance gasp and sit up in bed, clutching the shirt over his chest. There’s no way they would hurt Keith if Lance continued pursuing him, right? He has been told many times to not interact with the staff, and no one mentioned the staff taking heat for it if Lance talks to them. But, Keith had seemed so worried about being caught. We would surely know better than Lance would about this. He should just ask Keith about this the next time he sees him. 

 

_ Oh.  _ Should Lance even risk that? They’ve managed to not get caught twice now, but what would happen if they get caught the third time?  _ I can protect him _ . Lance thinks, and he believes it. He’s a Prince, after all. If he says not to hurt Keith, no one can hurt Keith. He’ll be safe. Lance will make sure he stays safe. 

 

While trying to plan a way to speak to Keith again, Lance manages to fall asleep again. A bit sad he doesn’t have Keith’s shoulder under his head, but he’ll find a way to let that happen again eventually. He’ll find a way to make all of this work out. 


	2. Secret Friends?

Lance doesn’t see his father for another three nights, due to him being away on a diplomatic meeting with a neighboring kingdom that is getting testy with them. It then takes him another two to work up the nerve to speak to him about the servants’ work. The king is a compassionate man, he cares deeply for his people, so Lance isn’t worried too much about him not caring about how their servants are forced to work long hours without breaks.

 

It’s just, Lance is not good with discussing matters like this. He’s not good with discussing any matters at all, really, however big or small. He doesn’t feel cut out for being a Prince, and couldn’t be more happy that he’s the youngest; saving him from having to try dealing with the pressures of ruling over the Kingdom. Unlike his brother and sister, who have to help their Father run things so they can prepare to take over when their time comes; whoever it ends up being. They’re the ones who are good at these things, not Lance.

 

They know how to speak powerfully and get their point across. They know how to get what they want. They’re trained to speak and handle things. Trained in important things that Lance is not. The only thing he’s been trained in is how to act proper and behave around guests. How to Look like a Prince, but not a ruler.

 

With this being the first thing that can be considered his first time taking charge of an issue, he is more than a little anxious. He knows he’s put it off long enough,though.

 

He waits until they are gathered at the table eating dinner to bring it up- Lance is glad they’re in the smaller dining room this time, the big one makes him anxious. He looks around the room, nervously eyeing the servants who are currently working on keeping their cups full and unneeded plates cleared away. He hopes they won’t mind him talking about them while they are in the room. Lance pushes his plate away, thanks the servant who takes away, before clearing his throat.

 

“Father?” He starts nervously and doesn’t continue until the King looks up from his meal to signal he heard Lance. “I was speaking with one of the servants the other day-” There’s a soft gasp from the servant who had been clearing away his plates and his father raises a curious eyebrow. Lance clears his throat again before continuing.

 

“And it came up that they have to work the entire day with no breaks. Do you think we could start allowing them to have breaks? It doesn’t seem fair that they work so lon-”

 

“Lance.” The king sets his fork down and sits up straight in his chair. “They are allowed to have a break if they wish.”

 

Both of his siblings are silently watching Lance now, also having pushed their plates away for the servants to take away. He had thought their presence would grant him some comfort while talking to his father about this, but their unreadable expressions and intense eyes fixed on him are just making him more nervous. He hides his hands under the table to fidget with them while he rushes through his words.

 

“Well-... Yes, but their wages get taken away if they do, and they aren’t making much to begin with. And most of them have families they are helping support. So, I was just thinking that perhaps it would be… fair to them… if we gave them paid breaks to show how much we appreciate their work around the castle. Maybe shorter work hours, even if just for those who are older or weaker?” Lance wants to say more, but he stays silent and waits for the King’s reply, hoping he has picked the right words to convince him.

 

“Hm.” His father takes a slow sip of his wine while keeping his gaze on Lance, making the young prince squirm a bit in his seat. “Who is this servant you’ve been speaking with?” He doesn’t seem mad, perhaps a bit amused if anything.

 

“Oh…” Lance tenses a bit, wondering if he should risk mentioning Keith’s name. Would he really get in trouble for speaking with Lance? “I never asked their name. I was walking around and decided to ask around how and see if they are treated well here. Make sure they are comfortable. Is… is that okay?”

 

“Of course, of course. I am a bit surprised, however. I did not think you were interested in things like this. Our subjects, I mean.”

 

“A-ah, Well, I figured since I am an adult now, I should start taking my role as a prince more seriously. What better way than to make sure those helping here in the castle are happy? Yes?”

 

The king smiles widely at Lance and stands up before walking over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Yes! I’m glad you’re taking on more responsibility. I will talk to the Head servant tomorrow morning.” Lance lets out a relieved sigh and is about to thank him but he cuts him off. “You can join me! Meet me in the throne room first thing in the morning and we shall talk to him together and work something out.” With that, the King turns and leaves the room.

 

Lance’s anxiety comes back after hearing that he will be apart of the discussion with the head servant. Speaking of servants- He looks around the room again and immediately notices the few servants who had been in the room, frozen still and staring at him with wide eyes. They quickly turn away and start cleaning once again when they see him looking.

 

“So,” Lance’s sister begins loudly to get his attention, “Does this mean you are going to help up with diplomatic issues, now?”

 

“Absolutely not!” He stands up and ignores her laughs as he leaves the room. As if he’d _ever_ subject himself to that kind of torture. No, thanks. This is enough for him.

  
  


 

Finding Keith has, yet again, proven to be as hard as it was before. He had checked the kitchens, the stables, most of the guest rooms, and just about every other place he could think of. He had even been down to the servant quarters! Which had gotten him a lot of disbelieving stares. As if this wasn’t his home and he wasn’t allowed to go wherever he pleased.

 

He was considering giving up; he’d find Keith eventually, maybe the next time he gets lost. He hated how none of the other servants wouldn’t talk to him unless they were one of the higher up maids or butlers, who had no clue who Keith was, anyways. So that was pointless. Maybe he shouldn’t have been asking for Keith by name, now that he thinks about it. If word gets out that Lance, The Prince, had known Keith, The Servant, he might get in trouble.

 

Gah! This is so frustrating! There’s too many stupid rules. They should be allowed to talk to whoever they want!

 

With no luck finding his friend, Lance figures it’s best to just get some sleep before the next morning. The last thing he wants to do is be too tired to function. Or, heaven forbid, over sleep and be late. His father would never take him seriously again.

 

So, with a heavy feeling of anxiety still in his stomach, and Keith on his mind, Lance falls asleep and dreams of laying in the gardens with a cute servant boy.

  
  


      

  


Lance can’t _believe this_.

 

He had spent _hours_ searching for Keith last night, with no luck, only to have him show up with the head servant for their meeting. If he wasn’t so glad to see him, he would have been annoyed.

 

His head is down, gaze locked on his shoes like always, as he enters the throne room a few steps behind his boss. Lance wants so badly to wave and greet him, but knows that’s not a smart idea. So instead, he stands there silently next to his father’s chair.

 

“Your Majesty. Your Highness.” The head servant greets them with a bow, Keith also dipping his head lower silently.

 

“Thank you for joining us this morning. I know it is very last minute, but Prince Lance felt this issue to be important and I agree. So we should handle it right away.” Lance keeps his eyes on Keith, watching how he tenses at the mention of Lance. Does he not know why they are here? In fact- why is Keith here to begin with?

 

“It is no problem at all, Your Majesty. What seems to be the issue?”

 

“Lance has talked with a few servants-” Keith’s head almost whips up all the way, but he stops himself from looking at them. With his head now raised a bit more, though, Lance can see the look on his face. His eyebrows are pulled close and his mouth is open slightly in shock for a moment before he begins chewing on his lower lip.

 

“-and it’s come to his attention that breaks are unpaid. He believes they should be receiving paid breaks.”

 

Keith’s shoulders relax a bit, his expression looking less tense as well. Lance wants to speak to him so much it’s making him frustrated.

 

“Of course, Not a problem at all.” The head servant bows, but he looks less happy than before. “Is that all, Your Highness?”

 

It technically is. That and the shorter hours for those who are older. But Lance hates how unhappy the head servant looks at the lower workers getting paid for breaks that he pushes his anxiety aside to speak up out of spite.

 

“Higher wages as well.” Lance is proud of how calm his voice is. But he almost loses it when Keith finally looks up at him with wide eyes, not caring if he gets caught or in trouble anymore. “How much are they making right now?” Lance already knows, if he’s being honest. His father told him while they were talking before this meeting. He smiles at Keith before looking back at the head servant.

 

“Oh, uh. Minimum is 5 shillings a day, Your Highness.”

 

“Make it 15.” Lance smiles sweetly at him as he opens and closes his mouth, clearly at a loss for words. “Five is far too low for the amount of work I see my people doing. Who decided that, anyways?” Lance knows this as well, be he already isn’t too fond of this man, and it’s not often he gets a chance to mess around like this. Beside him, he can hear the King snicker into his glass.

 

“I did, Your Highness.” The head servant’s eye twitches.

 

“Hm. Well 15 should work for now. Oh, and please make sure the elder workers, or those who are sick, are not working more than they can without harming their bodies. I do not want anyone pushing themselves too hard.”

 

“I will let everyone know of the changes immediately, Your Highness.” He bows again and Lance hums in approval.

 

“Well.” The King lets out a quiet chuckle. “Is that all you wished to change, My boy?”

 

“For now, thank you. I’ll let you know if I come across anything else.”

 

“Fair enough. I believe we are done here, then. I will let my treasurer know of the wage changes and have everyone paid accordingly for this week and the rest after. Thank you for your time.”

 

“Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you Your Highness.” The head servant bows once more before leaving. The King starts talking to him as soon as the conversation is over, so he almost misses Keith smile at him and nod towards the door with a questioning eyebrow raised. He sees it, thankfully, and is practically bursting with the need to run after him.

 

“You did good, Son. I am proud of how you handled it. Perhaps your siblings could give you lessons on more of these issues, hmm?”

 

“Oh! I think I would prefer to stick with smaller issues, but maybe in the future.”

 

“Lance, my boy, no issue in our land is a small issue. Everything deserves to be brought to our attention and fixed. No matter how trivial others might believe it to be.”

 

“I know. I promise I will try my best at dealing with these things.”

 

“No worries, Lance. I know you are not particularly comfortable with it. I do appreciate you trying, but know I won’t force you if it is not something you are not interested in.”

 

“Thank you, Father.” Lance holds his arms out and the King smiles as he stands up to hug his son.

 

“Now, go do whatever little Princes do nowadays.” He pats Lance on the back and lets him go. Lance doesn’t waste another second before he’s already shouting a goodbye and running towards the doors.

 

He didn’t need Keith to give him a location to know where he will be, and Lance can feel the excitement running through him as he makes his way to the gardens.

 

He had barely rounded the wall of tall rose bushes and entered the archway to their usual spot before Keith was already hugging him. “I didn’t think you were serious, thank you so much.”

 

Lance stumbles back a bit but gains his balance and hugs him back. “Of course I was serious! You deserve to be able to work comfortably.”

 

“Yea, but the wage raise?” Keith steps back to look at him, keeping his arms around Lance’s neck. Lance’s eyes widen at the sight of tears in Keith’s. A feeling of panic bubbles up but is immediately swept away when he notices Keith’s smile. “You have no idea how much this means to me. And all of the other workers here. So, really, thank you. You’re not half as bad as everyone made you out to be.”

 

“That’s because none of them actually know me.” Lance laughs as he rolls his eyes at Keith, who now has a weird expression on his face. His eyebrows are furrowed and his eyes are darting back and forth in front of him as if he’s looking for tangible words to show up for him to read so he knows what to say. “Something wrong?” Lance holds him a bit farther away and leans down a bit so he can enter Keith’s line of vision.

 

Keith huffs and suddenly looks determined, his courage only slightly wavering as he forces his words out a bit to fast. “I want to.”

 

“You… want to what?”

 

“Know you.” Lance goes to speak but Keith puts his hand over his mouth to stop him. “I know I’m not supposed to, but I really like talking to you. You’re a doofus but you’re nice to be around. And I _know_ I’m just a servant, so I shouldn’t even be near you right now- Hell, I still don’t understand why you keep talking to me, but… I want to be friends. Secret friends, of course.”

 

Lance is silent for a moment, even after the hand over his mouth is removed. “...Secret friends?”

 

“Is that okay?

 

“Yes! Of course. But, how would this work? I have a hard enough time finding you on my own.”

 

“Oh, I’m sorry about that.” Keith steps back more and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. “I’ve been training with the Staff Manager. Which is why I was in the meeting today. I don’t know _what for_ , but I’ve been having to follow him around the past few days. But, we could set up a time to meet? It can not be too often, though, that’s too risky.”

 

“Hm. Every three nights? Right here as soon as the sun sets completely.”

 

“That should work. You will have to show up first so no one sees us walking together. And I don’t get done with work until the sun sets, so I will be a few minutes late.”

“Oh, no worries. I’m just glad that I know when I’ll see you again.”

 

“That’s- uh… me too.” Keith goes to sit down on the bench but stops when he remembers something. “Um, I’m not even supposed to be outside the castle right now, so I should probably head back.”

 

“Oh, shoot! You’re going to get in trouble again!” That panic-y feeling comes back at the thought of Keith getting in trouble because Lance kept him away for too long.

 

“Relax! I’m just supposed to be walking around and explain the changes to the rest of the workers. No one will notice I’m gone. Besides, All I have to do when I go back inside is tell maybe three of four others, and the news will have spread by noon.”

 

“Still, I don’t want to risk it. Please don’t let me get you in trouble.” Lance doesn’t want him to leave, It’s actually the last thing he wants at the moment. But being the reason Keith is punished is _not_ something he wants. He doesn’t want him to be punished at all, so, “Please, go back to work. I’ll meet you later tonight.”

  


“Promise?”

 

“Of course.”

 

“Very well. I will see you tonight, _My Prince_.” He holds his hand out for Lance, who just stares at it in shock for a second before grabbing it gently and bowing to kissing it.

 

Lance watches as Keith turns and walks away, giving him one last smile before he exits the archway and Lance’s view. He lets out a dramatic sigh and flops himself down on the bench. He’s glad to finally have a friend who he can actually speak to in person. His only other friend is another Prince from a neighboring Kingdom, Hunk. Lance only gets a letter from him once a month, and he only sees him twice a year. Three if one of them are able to attend an extra ball. However, with their rival kingdom constantly at their throats and sending threats, Lance is forbidden to travel further than the city outside the castle walls. Even then, he must be heavily guarded. So seeing Hunk is not a thing that can happen for a while. 

 

Having Keith here now is nice, though. _Keith is nice_. Lance is glad he doesn’t fan over Lance being Royalty. He’s even more glad that he’s starting to act less and less like Lance is above him. Keith is still a bit scared, that much is obvious. But Lance just wants to be treated like a normal person, and Keith is giving that to him.

 

It’s only fair that Lance gives Keith something in return, right?

 

Like, maybe, perhaps, if Keith can make Lance feel normal, then Lance could help Keith feel like royalty.

 

He hopes Keith likes being pampered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gonna try devoting more time to write this. I actually came up with a plan for how i want it to go and :))) Gonna get sad @ some parts :)))))) I kinda hinted towards something in this chapter lmao


	3. sweet tooth

Having to wait until sunset was horrible. Time seemed to go twice as slow and Lance was getting antsy. His morning tutors had scolded him multiple times, but it did little to get his focus back on his lessons. All of his teachers had also called their lessons to an end earlier than usual due to not being able to get anything done. He couldn’t help it, every time he tried to work on something, his mind would just wander off to Keith and he would mess up whatever maths problem or musical note he was supposed to be focused on.

 

He had never been good at waiting for things he wanted, and he knows he should work on being more patient, but in his defense- He’s seeing Keith tonight!  _ Keith _ ! His second friend! His  _ only  _ friend at home! So he thinks, this once, he deserves to be at least a  _ little  _ excited. 

 

Knowing when and where he is going to see him did make it easier than before, though. At least now he didn’t have to worry about getting lost trying to find him before giving up and going to bed disappointed. Now he can just show up, and Keith will be there soon after. The thought made him feel bubbly with anticipation, and it clearly showed to those around him. 

 

He knew he should try being more calm, as to not raise suspicions, but that was even harder than being patient. So all he could do was prepare himself for when people asked him questions. 

 

Like now, as he sneaks past the dining room where his family is eating, to head into the kitchen to gather his own food for tonight. Although he must not have been stealthy enough,, because a few minutes later, as he’s shoveling hastily covered food into a large basket, his sister walks into the room. 

 

“What are you doing?” Lance freezes as soon as he hears her and slowly closes the lid to the basket, as if it’ll hide all the evidence and make her forget what she seen. “You do know we have food prepared for us in the dining hall, yes?” 

 

“O-oh! I’m just… Going on a picnic.” He holds the basket closer to him as she studies him. 

 

“Alone?” 

 

“Pff. Obviously. Who else would I go with? Hunk is weeks away and it’s not like I have any other friends here.” He puts on the saddest expression he can manage and thanks the Gods that it seems to work. 

 

His sister’s shoulders slump down and she frowns at him. “I know, I’m sorry about you not being able to visit him. Father is trying his hardest to calm the tension between us and King Zarkon. I’m sure you’ll be able to see each other soon.” 

 

“I hope so. Now, can I get back to my Pitty Picnic?” Lance swings an arm around in the direction of the food that he has yet to pack. 

 

“I’ll let father know. He was worried when you didn’t show up for dinner.” She gives him a small smile before turning and walking out the door, which doesn’t even close all the way before he’s back to grabbing things and trying to fit them into the basket without crushing anything. 

 

He doesn’t need all of this food, he wouldn’t even be able to eat a fourth of this on his own. But he’s not sure what kinds of foods Keith likes, so he might as well bring a little bit of everything. 

 

When the basket is full and he’s satisfied, Lance grabs a large jug of juice and a lantern he had brought from his room, and makes his way out of the kitchens and towards the back gardens. The sun hasn’t set yet, but he’s been waiting long enough and he would feel more at ease being there. Besides, he wants to make sure he has time to set everything out before Keith shows up. 

 

It takes a while to get everything right, mainly due to him having to take everything out and try to fit it on the bench, as to not let anything touch the ground, while he lays the blanket out.  _ Why  _ he had put that in the  _ bottom  _ of the basket instead of on top, he doesn’t know. He does get it laid out in time, though, and as soon as he’s sitting back to wait for Keith, said servant comes running around the corner. 

 

“I’m so sorry it took me so long to get here, I was-” Keith looks up from where he is hunched over and panting from running, and his eyes go wide at the sight of all the food. “What, uh, what is all this?” 

 

“Dinner!” Lance says with a grin. “Come on, have a seat. I wasn’t sure what you would like, so I grabbed some of everything in the kitchen.” Keith is silent as he slowly sits down next to Lance on the blanket. His eyes are still wide as they bounce from one plate to the next. “Do you… not like any of it? I can go have someone make something else, if you’d like?” 

 

“No! No, no, it’s fine! I just… I don’t think I’ve had  _ any  _ of this before.” Keith still can’t look away from the abundance of food, but he also can’t bring himself to touch any of it. 

 

“Well, here.” Lance reaches for a plate in the middle piled with some sort of meat. “Try this. It’s lamb.” 

 

“ _ Lamb _ ? Like a  _ baby  _ sheep?” His eyes go even wider and he looks a bit horrified, so Lance quickly covers the plate with a cloth again and sticks it back into the basket. 

 

“Nevermind! Um, do you like seafood?” 

 

“My brother used to bring home trout sometimes, but other than that I haven’t.” Lance hums and places a plate in front of him. “Is this… fish?” 

 

“It’s oysters!” It looks a little weird to Keith, but Lance looks so excited to see him try the food that he grabs one of the forks Lance had packed. “Oh, no! Like this.” 

 

Keith watches as Lance grabs one of them and brings it to his lips, tipping his head back slightly to suck it down. When he’s done, he places the shell back on the plate and grins at Keith again, waiting for him to give it a try. 

 

“Oh, okay.” He ditches the fork and picks one up in his hands. He brings it to his lips and looks at Lance for confirmation that he’s doing it right. When Lance nods happily at him, eyes bright and grinning, Keith closes his eyes tightly and knocks it back. “ _ Oh _ .” He chokes out when it’s completely down. 

 

“Oh? Do you not like it?” Lance looks worried now goes to take the plate away to hide it like the lamb. 

 

“It was, um, interesting.” Keith goes back to looking at the options they have, actually paying full attention this time now that the initial shock has left. “What about this?” Keith reaches for a pie but Lance swats his hand away. 

 

“That’s for dessert, silly. Besides, who hasn’t had  _ pie  _ before?” 

 

“Well, I’ve never been able to afford one before. And even if I could get the ingredients, I don’t know how to bake.” 

 

“Oh..” Lance stares at the pie for a few seconds before grabbing it and placing it in front of Keith. “I’m sure it would be fine if you had a little taste before eating proper food. Not too much, though. I still want you to try the rest!” 

 

Keith grabs his fork again and doesn’t hesitate to dig it into the pie, he’s heard multiple people talk about how sweet they are and he’s excited to finally be able to try one. Despite hearing how good it is from other people, however, Keith isn’t expecting it to be  _ this  _ good. 

 

“Woah, that sure is some expression you have. I’m assuming you like it?” Lance laughs beside him and Keith just nods quickly in reply, bringing another forkfull to his mouth. “My siblings don’t care for strawberry pie. They say it’s too sweet.” 

 

“This is the best thing I’ve ever had, Lance.” Keith tries to speak before swallowing so it comes out muffled, causing Lance to laugh even more. 

 

“I’ll make sure to remember you have a sweet tooth. Come on, try some real food, now.” Lance grabs the plate of pie away from a whining Keith and replaces it with more food. Keith tries a little bit of almost everything- there’s a few options that he refused to try that ended up being hidden away with the lamb- before he starts feeling full, and makes Lance give him the rest of the pie. If he only has a tiny bit more room in his stomach, he’s going to fill it with this godly creation. 

 

When they’re both done eating, Keith helps Lance put everything back into the basket. A few select food items are wrapped up separately for Keith to take with him. After it’s all shoved aside, Lance lays down on his back and motions for Keith to do the same. 

 

“I hope you liked all the food. I can bring more next time, if you’d like?” 

 

“It was nice…  _ Most  _ of it was nice.” 

 

“Like the pie?” 

 

“Of course.” Keith takes a deep breath and props himself up on his elbow. “Lance?” 

 

“Hmm?” Lance lazily looks over at him, smile ever present. 

 

“Thank you for today. You didn’t have to raise the servants wages as well, but I know you’ve helped out a lot of people very much. Me included, so… thank you.” 

 

Lance pushes Keith back until he’s laying down once again and scooches over to lay his head on Keith’s shoulder. “You all are working so hard, this raise was long overdue. You shouldn’t be thanking me for it.” 

 

“Lance, seriously. Everyone told me that I shouldn’t expect much from working here, but because of you I can- I’m able to send more money home to help my brother, and I just, it means a lot that you care. So, please accept my thanks.” 

 

“You’re welcome.” And then because he’s an ass, “But you don’t have to thank me.” 

 

“Lance!” Keith pushes him away and hits his shoulder. Lance dramatically flops onto the blanket again, holding his shoulder as if he’s been stabbed straight through it. 

 

“Ouch! You know you could get punished for harming a Prince!” 

 

“Oh, as if you’d tell on me.” 

 

“Whatever, I’m just making sure you know you committed an act of treason. Harming your prince. I can’t believe I’m friends with a criminal.” 

 

“Stop acting like such a baby.” Keith laughs, and continues to laugh harder as Lance mock cries like an actual baby. 

 

“Fine, fine, here.” Keith tries his best to bow while kneeling and holds his hand out like this morning, but Lance doesn’t give him his own hand. “I deeply apologize for harming you, My Prince. Is there anyway I can make it up to you to show my loyalty to you and your kingdom?” 

 

When Keith looks back up at him, he thinks he can see a blush across Lance’s face, but the lantern isn’t bright enough to tell for sure. Lance gives an awkward cough before sitting up.

 

“Hmm. I will let you know if I think of a way for you to redeem yourself. In the meantime, we should begin walking back. My personal guard will be checking on me soon, and if I’m not in my quarters, he’ll ring the alarm.” 

 

“Oh, okay.” Keith’s smile falters for a second before he gets it back up as if it never left. “Let me carry some of this for you.” He stands up and grabs the basket, leaving the Lance to gather the 

blanket and lantern, which he blows out so no one notices the fire as they walk to the castle. 

 

They walk back in silence, risking a pitstop to the kitchen to drop the basket off, before reaching the stairs up to Lance’s room. Lance sets the lantern down on a step and takes the food Keith had kept out of his hands to set it down as well before pulling him into a hug. Keith rests his head on Lance’s shoulder while they stand for what feels like hours, but is really just a couple of minutes.

 

“I can’t wait to see you again.” Lance whispers, and his breath hits the side of Keith’s neck, making him shiver. 

 

Keith squeezes Lance a bit harder before pulling away and smiling softly at him. “Neither can I. Thank you for the food. And spending time with me.” 

 

“Thank you as well.” Lance bows to Keith who rolls his eyes and lightly punches him in the side of his arm. 

 

“Quit being so ridiculous and go to bed.” 

 

“I’m not-”

 

“Don’t you dare say you’re not tired, you nearly fell asleep while you were eating earlier.” 

 

“Oh, whatever. I wish you a goodnight, Keith.” He bows again and picks his lantern up. 

 

“Goodnight, Lance. I will see you soon.” They share one last smile before turning and heading their own ways again. 

 

When Lance reaches his room, luckily a few minutes before his guard shows up to check on him, he hates how big it is. He’s never thought about it before- he’s always been used to unnecessarily large rooms, but now it just seems so… empty. He has filled the room with many personal objects over the years, but nothing helps the uncomfortable feeling of loneliness that has settled in his gut. 

 

It’s not until he’s a few breaths away from falling asleep in his bed, when he turns over to reach out for something, that it hits him. The thought rips him out of his almost-slumber, the same way falling in a dream would, and his body lurches up. 

 

Sleep seems like such an impossible thing for him, now. Because no matter how hard he tries, he can’t get the thought that he shouldn’t be falling asleep alone out of his head. 

 

He can’t get rid of the thought that Keith should still be with him right now, filling the empty space in his room and falling asleep beside him. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I haven't mentioned my tumblr on here yet, but it's Krayduh. I might start putting some short fics on there too, but no chapter ones. Idk yet. Send me prompts if you want anything. I'm always in need of short projects to help my writing improve <33333  
> Also sorry if it's goin a bit slow, It'll pick up within the next 2-3 chapters <3


	4. Don't tell

“Lance?... Lance?....  _ Lance _ !” 

 

Lance jumps up in the seat he had pushed up against the library window and turns around. He relaxes once he sees its just his siblings. “Hm?” 

 

His sister walks over and pulls up a chair in front of him and grabs the book he was reading out of his hands. “Why haven’t you shown up at dinner all week?” 

 

“I have things to do.” He tries to grab the book away but the tosses it to his brother. “ _ ‘Roni _ , come on!”  He slumps back and pouts but she’s unswayed.

 

“That’s not a good enough answer. We know you’re up to something.” His brother, Marco, speaks up from behind him. “Just tell us and we’ll return the book.” 

 

Lance scoffs at that and upturns his nose away from them. “Doesn’t matter to me. I have another copy in my room.” 

 

“You mean, the room that you haven’t been getting to until late at night- practically morning?” Veronica eyes him suspiciously and he tries not to falter in his facade of not caring. 

 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” 

 

“We’re not stupid, Lance. Your guard woke me up looking for you and nearly rang the alarms because you weren’t in your room.” Marco sighs and places the book on a random shelf. “We just want to know what’s going on, you aren’t in trouble.” 

 

“Does it actually matter? My whereabouts do not affect either of you. You have more important things to worry about, anyways.”

 

“Lance,” Veronica places a hand on his shoulder and he finally turns to face her. “You are important, too. I know we haven’t been around as much, with the threat of war and all, but we are still here for you if something is going on. You can’t be sneaking out of the castle or skipping meals beca-”

 

“Woah, don’t worry, I’m still eating. Just… not in the dining hall.” 

 

Marco still looks skeptical but moves away from that point, “Okay, well, that doesn’t change the fact that we know you’re sneaking out at night. You know that’s dangerous. Until this mess with King Zarkon blows over we can’t have you leaving. You know this.” 

 

“Gods!” Lance throws his hands in the air as he stands up, catching them off guard at the sudden outburst. “I’m just going to the garden, okay? Is that alright with you guys?” 

 

“The- The garden? Which one?” Veronica stands up as well and follows him as he makes his way to the doors. 

 

“Does it matter which one? I’m not leaving the castle grounds, isn’t that enough?” 

 

“I suppose so. You still need to be careful, though.” Marco stands in front of the door and doesn’t budge when Lance tries to push him aside. 

 

“I’ll bring a knife, would that be better?” Lance huffs and rolls his eyes. Why can’t they just drop it?

 

“Well, I think we should go arrange for a guard to accompany y-”

 

“No!” Lance shouts and once again they’re taken aback. Lance is loud, yes, but he never yells. Never with such desperation either- not since their mother had passed, anyways. 

 

“Lance.” Veronica’s tone is serious now, and he knows he messed up. “What is going on?” 

 

“I…” His head drops to look at the ground. He doesn’t know what to say to get them off his back and he can’t exactly tell them the truth, right? Would they tell their father? Or the head servant that one of the lowers are mingling with the royals and get Keith fired? 

 

“Lance, do we have to bring father into this?” 

 

Lance’s gaze snaps back up at Marcos question.  _ What a mess _ . Maybe they’ll leave if he just… tells half of the truth… just a little bit of info. 

 

“I made a friend!” He admits without entirely thinking it through and slaps a hand over his mouth as if he had just said the most foul thing. 

 

“A friend?” Veronica grabs his shoulders and turns him to look at her? “I thought you said you haven’t left the castle grounds? How did you meet a friend? Wait- are you  _ letting them in here _ ?”

 

She looks like she’s about to explode so Lance quickly elaborates without much consideration for what he’s saying, again. “They’re a servant! I haven’t left the grounds!” 

 

“You- Goodness, Lance. We aren’t supposed to interact with them. They have jobs they need to do and you don’t need to bother yourself with people like that to begin with.” She removes her arms and crosses them over her chest instead, giving him a hard ‘ _ you’re in trouble _ ’ look. 

 

And, yeah, he knows he shouldn’t get this riled up about this right now when he knows he’s in trouble because he’s just going to make it worse, but,  “People like  _ what _ ?” She doesn’t answer, too shocked by his venomous tone to say anything, so he repeats himself.

 

“I shouldn’t bother myself with people like  _ what _ , ‘Roni?” 

 

“The servants, they’re-” 

 

“People! They’re people! Aren’t we supposed to  _ care  _ about our people?” 

 

“That doesn’t mean we have to be  _ friends  _ with them, Lance.” She regains her composer and fixes a heavy glare at him, only to lose it when he bites back again. 

 

“Well, he  _ is  _ my friend! Pretty much the  _ only  _ friend I have at this point!” His arms go up again in a show of disbelief, although if he’s being honest, this is exactly what he expected to happen. This is exactly why he was trying to hide it. So much for  _ that _ , though. “I don’t get why it’s such a big deal! And unless you’re going to let me go visit Hunk, my only other friend, leave me alone.” He turns away from her and finally pushes Marco out of the way, not having to try that hard due to him stepping aside on his own. 

 

“Lance, we know you miss Hunk, but we can’t let you do that.” Marco tries to place a hand on his shoulder but he shrugs it off and continues walking away. 

 

“Then leave me  _ alone _ .” Once the doors shut behind him and he’s sure they’re not going to follow him, he books it to his room. He locks the door behind him and ignores his personal maid when she asks what’s wrong, opting to throw himself on his bed and sulk in silence. 

 

A short while- or long, he’s not really sure how much time has passed- goes by and he finally lets a few tears out. He doesn’t want to cry about it, but  _ fuck _ . This was supposed to be kept a secret and he’s already spilled it not even two weeks after their first scheduled meetup. At least he didn’t give them Keith’s name. Then they’d both really be fucked. Keith even moreso, but Lance isn’t sure he’ll be able to handle it if they kick Keith out. 

 

He’s never cared about someone like this and he doesn’t want their friendship to end just because Lance is an idiot. 

 

He hopes that eventually, no one will care if he talks to any of the servants because, holy shit that is such a stupid rule and he doesn’t understand. He hopes that things will be okay; his siblings will drop it and never mention it to anyone and he’ll be able to continue seeing Keith in private until he’s allowed to speak with him in public. 

 

Lance doesn’t show up to the garden the next night, and he hopes Keith won’t be too upset with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this update is a bit shorter.  
> season 6 all but killed me aaaha
> 
> also reminder i dont edit things tht much, other than skimming it sometimes, so ifi make a mistake lemme know 
> 
> or just ignore it ig lmao


	5. Valet

Keith, having been disappointed various times in his life, knows how to deal with it rather well. He’s learned to keep his hopes low enough now that, in case something less than ideal were to happen, he isn’t let down as much as he would have been years prior. That being said, showing up to the gardens, excited and fully prepared to tell Lance some great news he had received the day before, but not seeing Lance anywhere, did not ruin his mood.

 

However, after sitting on one side of the bench to make sure Lance had room when he got there for an hour alone, it was starting to get to him. His chest was beginning to feel tight and it felt like, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t squeeze his hands hard enough. At first he was worried that Lance had decided he had better things to do because, come on, he’s a Prince and Keith is still nothing but a lowly servant. But after the second hour had come and gone, along with many possible reasons he ran through his head, Keith was just plain worried. 

 

He figured he had no reason to doubt Lance’s sincerity when he told Keith how much he enjoyed their time together. Now, the only thing he could think of, was that something bad had happened and Lance simply was not able to come. So he was patient; confident Lance would show again when he was able to make it. 

 

Even if he wasn’t there the next time. Keith was still patient. And again, on the third time Keith had shown up to an empty bench in the darkened garden. That sinking feeling in his gut was still there and no matter how many times Keith told himself Lance would show, it continued to grow. 

 

It was on the fourth scheduled night when Keith decided to give it a rest for now; he’d see Lance eventually in the castle and figure out what was going on. He had been waiting an hour before leaving the garden. Part of him had started to get irritated as he left by himself again, but he had a better time shoving that feeling away than the anxiety. It’s not Lance’s fault. He wouldn’t ditch Keith on purpose. He likes hanging out with him. He  _ cares  _ about Keith. Right? 

 

Keith, head down and sluggishly walking back to the castle, stuck in his own thoughts of  _ he cares, he cares, he cares _ , had been too distracted to notice the doors open and someone run straight for him. He didn’t hear their footsteps until they were already too close and by the time he had looked up in shock, the person already had a grip on his hand and was running back into the garden, pulling him along. 

 

I was still too dark out, only a quarter moon which didn’t do much for lighting, but he could make out the outline of the other’s short, wispy hair and the crooked circled that faintly gleamed in the lights coming from the torches in the castle windows. When they had got behind the tall bushes, though, all light was gone and he couldn’t see a single thing until they stopped and the person had lit a small lantern. 

 

“Lance.” Keith breaths out, more relieved than he would ever admit. 

 

Lance sets the lantern on the ground and throws his arms around Keith’s shoulders, pulling him into a tight embrace. “Keith, I’ve missed you so much. I’m so sorry I haven’t been able to come for a while.” 

 

“Where have y-” Lance quickly puts a hand over Keith’s mouth and makes a shushing noise before removing it. Getting the hint, Keith lowers his voice to a near whisper. “Where have you been? Are you okay? I was getting worried?” 

 

“I’m sorry. I’m  _ so  _ sorry, please forgive me, I didn’t mean to. But they cornered me and kept asking me questions and I didn’t know what to do and I panicked and ruined everything, I’m so sorry, Keith. I didn’t mean to be gone for so long, but they wouldn’t stop following me and checking up on me at night and I-” Despite his initial warning, Lance’s voice was getting louder and his tongue couldn’t seem to keep up with how fast he was talking, causing him to fumble over words. It was Keith’s turn to cover Lance’s mouth, shutting him up. 

 

“Hey, hey, hey. What happened? Did someone hurt you?” Keith removes his hand and tries to get a good look at him in what little light that is coming from the lantern. 

 

“No, no, don’t worry about that.” 

 

“Then what-”

 

“I told my siblings about you.” Keith’s face pales considerably and that nauseating, anxious feeling is back in full. Lance also looks like he might throw up but he powers through it to elaborate.

 

“They noticed I skipped a few dinners to get here on time and that I’ve been getting to my room too late at night and they cornered me. I didn’t tell them your name, all I said was that I made a friend who’s a servant, which my sister in particular is not thrilled about at  _ all _ . She’s a good person, I swear, but she still holds to the traditional ways that royalty should act and who we should associate with. She’s been trying to get me to give her a name but I promise I didn’t tell her. I promise I would never do that.” 

 

Lance takes a deep breath and stares at Keith, his face plastered with worry and guilt. Keith takes a few steps back and has to sit down on the bench, too overwhelmed to stand. 

 

“I believe you.” He says quietly but Lance hears and lets out a sigh of relief before sitting next to him, leaning his head on Keith’s shoulder. “Wait- Lance! What are you doing here if she’s watching you? What if she followed you here and-” 

 

“It’s okay! She’s accompanying my father to another diplomatic gathering. They’re gone for at least a fortnight. I doubt my brother cares as much as she, he hasn’t been helping her and he didn’t check on me last night after she left so we’re safe.”

 

“Oh.” Keith slumps back, exhausted from the amount of emotions that ran through his body in such a short amount of time. He’s beginning to relax now, finally having Lance next to him is grounding beyond words and he would do anything to be able to feel him pressed against his shoulder for as long as time goes on. 

 

“I hope you’ve been well since we last spoke.” Lance mumbles into his shoulder and it suddenly reminds Keith that-

 

“Lance!” He jumps up from the bench and turns to face Lance, wild with excitement. “Oh Gods, I can’t believe I forgot! I have news!” 

 

Lance sits up straight, feeding off Keith’s emotions and getting giddy as well. “Let’s hear it! I’ve never seen you so animated before, this  _ must  _ be good.” 

 

“I’ve been given a new position in the castle! Well… I am  _ going  _ to be given a new position soon. The Head of staff told me he’s been having me follow him around so he can train me to be an official valet! I was told someone in your family needs a new server, and I am the only worker who is fit enough for the job. Well, there is a new hire and he seems to be more fit for the job, more put together for sure, but he hasn’t been here long enough for them to trust him, so the-”

 

“Woah, wait!” Lance stands up and claps his hands on Keith’s shoulders. His eyes are blown wide and his mouth opens and closes a few times before the initial shock settles enough for him to form words. “What do you mean you are training to be a valet!?” Quietness be damned, apparently. 

 

“I wasn’t told for who, but since you seem to be so shocked, I’m assuming it’s not for you?” Keith is still excited but not as much now. He was hoping it had been Lance who was in need of a new valet. Even if Keith was still going to be doing work, probably more than he was in the lower staffing jobs, he would have been able to spend time with Lance. But now he knows it’s for someone else. 

 

“Oh,  _ rats _ .” Lance hisses and crosses his arms over his chest. “I met it’s  _ Marco _ . He is such a weasel. I don’t think he’s had the same Personal for more than a few months at a time. Roni and I had a bet going for how long his latest maid would last, but if he  _ already  _ needs a new on, this means I lost.” Lance flops himself back in the bench, arms sprawled out wide as he slides down until his bottom is almost falling off the edge. 

 

“Can you- can you not just… switch? I’m sure, if he is such a weasel, he won’t care  _ who  _ his valet is.”

 

Lance considers this for a few seconds before sighing again. He sits up just a bit so he can reach Keith’s arm, still stretching as much as possible, and pull him to sit down next to him. “It would be highly suspicious of me to suddenly want to switch personal servants with him. Roni and Marco would surely catch on and I doubt they would be okay with it.” 

 

“What if you pretend to hate me around them? Are you a good liar?” Lance gets a cocky grin on his face and opens his mouth to answer but Keith cuts him off. “Actually- I already know you aren’t. You couldn’t lie about having a friend.” 

 

“Hey!” Lance softly punched his arm and huffs loudly. “That’s different. They made me mad and I just let it out in frustration. I wasn’t prepared for it. I’ll have you know, I am a  _ fantastic  _ liar.” 

 

“Hm. You’ll have to prove it to me. I’m due to switch by the end of the month, try to come up with a reason why you want to switch with him. And practice your lying techniques.” 

 

“Here, how about this,” Lance stands up again and turns his back to Keith. He clears his throat louder and more dramatically than necessary, before turning back to face him. His playful smile is gone and in its place is a hard glare as he leans forward, face roughly a foot away from Keith’s.

 

“What is  _ wrong  _ with you? I shouldn’t have to ask _ three times _ for you to do something before you do it! And I most  _ certainly  _ should  _ not  _ have to tell you how to do it properly!” Lance scoffs in disgust and stands up straight again. “Are you  _ trying  _ to get fired? Is working for me not  _ good enough _ for you? Ugh, I can’t believe I have such an incompetent servant. Clearly I’ll have to talk to my father about getting me someone who actually knows what the fuck they’re doing.” 

 

Lance turns around in a full circle and when he looks at Keith again, his face is lit up in glee, clearly proud of his performance. “How was that?” 

 

Keith sits in silence for a few seconds, trying to work through his thoughts. He didn’t expect Lance to be able to sound so… angry. He’s used to Lance’s normal light, feathery sweet personality; seeing him look so furious and disgusted, even as an act, is borderline anxiety inducing. “You, um… Might not want to sound like you hate me  _ that  _ much? We don’t want them to actually fire me, just get them to not be suspicious.” 

 

“Oh, sorry, yeah that was too intense, wasn’t it?” Lance shrugs his shoulders before sitting back down. “I’ll figure it out, don’t worry.” 

 

“I won’t, I trust you.” 

 

“Good.” Lance smiles at him too softly, and it changes the reason for the anxious feeling in Keith’s chest. It only gets worse when Lance leans back over against his side, sighing contently at being able to be close to Keith again after so long without his presence. 

 

They spend more time than they should have sitting in silence before Lance starts falling asleep. They agree to go to bed, holding hands as they walk to the stairs once again, and parting with whispered ‘goodnight’s and  ‘see you soon’s. The sun is already beginning to rise, and Keith is meant to be at work in just a few short hours, but it was completely worth it. He would gladly skip many nights of rest to spend time with his prince again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's picking up p soon i promise!   
> I don't work tomorrow so i should be able to get a ton done but i also have a few other things I have unfinished that i should also probably work on since theyre shorter and ill be able to get them out of the way aaaaa 
> 
> Thanks to the people commenting and giving kudos <3 You're all so sweet ily!


	6. It'll be perfect

Things, thankfully, go back to the way they were before Lance had to skip out on his meetings with Keith. Veronica is back, has been for a few days, but she’s been too busy working with their dad to bother Lance about his friend. His brother still doesn’t seem to care at all, either. 

 

So, yeah, things are good. All Lance has to worry about now is figuring out how to convince his brother to switch servants with him. He decided to wait until someone else brings it up first, since it would be suspicious if he had “just happened” to find out on his own. 

 

When Marco does actually mention it, Lance panics at first because he realizes he hadn’t even thought of a way to ask to switch. That is, until Macro continues on about how he feels about receiving a new valet, and Lance thinks this might be easier than he thought it would be. He has never felt so blessed to hear his brother complaining. Lance knows that he himself complains a lot, but hell, Marco never seems to have anything to say that isn’t a complaint. 

 

“-and another thing,” Marco says for what Lance’s counts to be the fifth time during his entire rant, “I don’t see why they need to keep training all of these new servants for me when they are just going to quit. It’s a waste of their time  _ and  _ mine. Oh! And why is it so hard for them to find someone who can actually put up with the amount of work it takes to be a valet? Are our staff really this incapable?” He huffs dramatically and rolls over on his stomach to look at where Lance is sitting up against his headboard, clearly waiting for an answer. 

 

“Well,” Lance pauses for a few seconds to try thinking of how he should casually slip in the offer to switch. “Uh, well, ‘Roni and I have no issues with our servants. They do their jobs well. In fact, I think Alice knows how to deal with you better than any of your servants have.” 

 

“Huh…” Marco sits up and makes a weird face- like he’s concentrating but he hasn’t figured out what exactly he’s concentrating on. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you complain about Alice before, is she really that good of a worker?” 

 

“Oh, yes. She never bothers me unless she knows I need something. It’s almost as if she has a sixth sense. Maybe she could… train your new valet?” Lance peeks over the edge of the book he’s pretending to read to gauge Marco’s reaction to his suggestion.. 

 

“No, no.” Marco waves his hand dismissively. “There’s no time for that. I’m going with father to the next diplomatic meeting and my valet will need to accompany me. I don’t have time for them to be messing around.” 

 

“Well, why don’t you just… take Alice. I’m sure she’s bored of me and wouldn’t mind a chance to leave the castle grounds.” 

 

“Lance, don’t be ridiculous. You know these meetings can be lengthy. Who knows how long we could be gone. It could be months like the one in Altea and I can’t leave you without a servant.”  

 

“Who is your new servant? I could just use, uh, her, I don’t mind. It would be better for you to have someone who knows what their doing when you travel, don’t you think?.” 

 

“Mmm, I wasn’t paying much attention when they introduced me to him, and he seems a bit young to be a valet but they trust him. Are you really okay with switching? He is supposed to start by the end of next week.”

 

“It’s fine, I don’t mind at all.” Lance tries his hardest hold in the excited grin that’s about to force it’s way on his face- managing to reign it down to just a wobbly tight smile. 

 

Marco jumps over to Lance and hugs him tightly for a second before rolling off the bed. “Thank you so much! If this new servant doesn’t work out well I promise you can have Alice back when I get back from the trip and I’ll get someone new again!” 

 

“Oh, don’t worry about it. You need someone who can handle you and who better than Alice?” 

 

Marco just nods in agreement before heading towards the door. “I’m going to discuss this with the head of staff. You should let Alice know so she can get accustomed to the switch before I leave.”

 

“Of course.” Lance calls as his brother exits the room. Once the door is shut and Lance can’t hear Marco’s footsteps anymore, he leaps forward to lay on his face, muffling his excited yelling into the thick comforter. His skin is buzzing and his cheeks already hurt from how wide he’s grinning. He’s never felt so happy in his life than he does at this moment, knowing he’s going to be able to spend as much time with Keith as he wants to. 

 

Obviously, they will still have to be very careful. They won’t be able to act like friends around anyone and Keith can’t just follow Lance around everywhere- he’ll actually have to be doing work like the other valets. But if Lance _ just so happens _ to need help with his wardrobe or cleaning his room more often, than who’s to stop Keith from hanging out in Lance’s room everyday? 

  
  


  
  


They see each other the next night, but only briefly. Lance is more worried about raising suspicions now because he sure as hell does not want to ruin this before Keith switches his position. 

 

They sit in the garden long enough for Lance to tell Keith that Marco agreed to switch with him and that he won’t be able to meet up until then. They’ll only miss a few meetings anyways, and it’s not as if they’ve gone that long without seeing each other before. And yea, it sucks not being able to hang out, but when Keith is finally Lance’s valet, it’s going to be so,  _ so good _ . 

Lance explains how it’s going to work; Keith will still have his normal list of duties to perform, and he’s not allowed to talk to Lance when others are around unless Lance speaks to him first; he  _ is  _ allowed to look at Lance around others now without getting reprimanded, however. Lance has breaks in between daily teachings that he usually spends in the library or gardens but now will be spent in his room so they can hang out in private. The gardens are still an option when there’s no one else outside, though; neither wanting to give up their spot in the clearing. 

 

“It’s going to be tricky at first, but I think it’ll be perfect!” Lance tells him with a fond smile. Keith thinks that ‘Perfect’ is an understatement. 

  
  


  


  
  


Keith’s first day as Lance’s personal servant is more frustrating than anything, if either of them are being honest. There’s still the rush of excitement when they are “introduced” to each other, and Lance almost impulsively hugs Keith. He’s not used to being around him with other people present, so he has to force himself to not touch Keith out of habit. 

 

Which is the most frustrating part, because the head of staff is with them the entire day. He’s really just tailing Keith and double checking he remembers how to do everything, but since it’s the only time he has to watch him, he has Lance to come up with tasks for Keith to do with Lance around to make sure Keith interacts with him properly. Meaning as sparse and politely as possible. Which  _ sucks _ , because again, no touching.                                         

 

It goes well, to Lance and Keith’s relief, and soon enough Lance is watching as the head of staff walks away with Keith to show him where his new room is. Which, to Keith, is huge surprise. No one had told him he would be getting a new room so he assumed he would still be staying in his old room that he had shared with two others. But, no, Keith now has his  _ own  _ room that’s only two floors below Lance’s so he can get to him quickly if Lance needs anything. 

 

The floor Keith is on is nothing but rooms for the top maids and butlers and personal valets. As well as a majority of the supply closets for their tasks and a storage room. 

 

He had been on this floor before when he was being shown which closets held which supplies, as well as the times he had walked Lance to the stairs on the floor between them, that lead up to Lance’s, but he had never been in any of the rooms. So when the head of staff opens the door to his new bedroom, Keith gets a bit light headed. 

 

The bed is double- if not more- the size of any bed he’s ever had. A queen, he thinks, but isn’t entirely sure. There’s a large couch and a table and he even has his  _ own bathroom _ . The large windows have thick curtains in front of thinner, more airy curtains. The floor is a light grey stone, but there are a few rugs on the ground under the table, his bed, and a desk that’s in the corner. The thought of walking on the rugs makes him even more nervous. 

 

The thought of touching  _ anything  _ in this room makes him nervous. Everythings too fancy, way too fancy for someone like him. Yea, he’s cleaned some guest rooms when he was learning how to do things properly, and those rooms are at least ten times more fancy than this one, but actually  _ living  _ in this? Being able to actually  _ sit  _ on the furniture?  _ Lay  _ on the bed? 

 

Gods, how did he end up with this as his live.

 

“The closets are all empty, you may bring your stuff up from the servant halls whenever you have time.” The head of staff says as he walks through the room. He stops at the wall the bed is up against and points to two rigs that look like bells hooked up to the ceiling. “This first bell is connected to Prince Lance’s room. He will ring it if assistance is needed and you are to get there as fast as possible. The second one is connected to my office on the bottom floor. There is not as much of a rush to get there if I ring for you, but it I would highly prefer it if you came as soon as possible.” 

 

“Of course.” Keith quickly nods from his place in the doorway, still trying to will his legs to enter the room. 

 

“I will ring for you in the morning the next few days to make sure you are awake and to check how things are going. I believe that is all. Have a good night.” He makes his way back to the door and Keith finally steps aside for him to leave. 

 

Once the door is shut and Keith’s mind is less of a fuzzy mess, he hesitantly walks to the bed and softly runs his hand over the comforter. Oh yea, he can already tell he’s going to have the best sleep he’s had in his entire life. Keith removes his shoes and gently lowers himself onto the bed, taking a few deep breaths before laying back across the end. His legs are still hanging off the edge and his neck is uncomfortable without a pillow, but it’s still the most comfortable he’s ever felt. 

 

He doesn’t get to enjoy it for long, however, because only a few seconds pass before he thinks about how his brother is going to freak out when he’s finally able to write to him about his new room. Which then turns into thoughts about how his brother is still back in their hometown, in their small shack on his small thin bed. If either of them deserves to sleep on this bed, if either of them deserve to be comfortable at all, it’s him, not Keith. 

 

He ends up sleeping on the couch, leaving the blankets and pillows on the bed.

 

It’s still more comfortable than any bed he’s had, but sleep is slow to come to him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took a bit longer to update than i planned ;o I was havin a hard time writing this chapter and for some reason i still dont like how i wrote it but i think its okay anyways? also sorry for hardly any keith/lance interactions but the next one will have more!  
> thank you everyone for the kudos and comments !!!


	7. Weak

Keith is awake before the bell starts ringing. He’s still in his clothes from the day before so all he needs to do is slip his shoes on before making his way downstairs to the office. His feet move slow despite his efforts to pick up the pace, as if his body just doesn’t want to listen to his brain. Whether from lack of sleep, and therefore physical energy, or from a lack of mental energy- as his mind is still wrapped around how bad he feels about living somewhere too nice, which is just as exhausting as not sleeping. 

He finally makes it to his boss’s office- ex boss? Keith should probably ask about that, if he still works under him or if Lance is now the only one in charge of him- and he doesn’t seem to notice Keith took way longer than he should have. He immediately places a pile of clothes in Keith’s arms. 

“Those will be your new uniforms. The blue is for everyday wear, and the silver is for when we have an event or a guest visiting. Do  _ not  _ ruin them. Anything you need replaced will come out of your pay. And these fabrics are expensive. Understand?” He crosses his arms and glares at Keith.

“Yes, sir, I-”

“Good. The Prince’s breakfast will be done soon, make sure everything is ready for him before he wakes up. I wanted to have you speak with his last maid so she can give you some tips on how to handle the Prince better than I, since I have not worked personally with him, but it seems they are leaving for their meeting sooner than planned so she is unavailable to speak in person. However, I requested she write down what she could think of on the spot, so make sure you memorize these along with your normal tasks.” The staff manager puts a folded sheet of paper on top of the clothes before sitting back at his desk.

“Thank you, sir.” Keith bows lazily and leaves the room. When he reaches his room again, he places his new uniforms on the desk and sits in the chair to read the paper. When he had been introduced to Prince Marco the first time, he had explained to Keith all of the things he prefered. It was a list far too long to memorize and he had panicked the entire time. This list though, only has 6 things. They’re rather silly, Keith thinks, and he can’t wait to tease Lance for them.

Almost as if Lance knew Keith was thinking about him, the bell closest to the bed starts ringing wildly and makes Keith jump, crumpling the sheet in his now closed fist. He smiles to himself before changing into the blue outfit, and makes his way up to Lance’s room, moving faster now.

 

 

He knocks on the door and when a loud whine comes from inside, he enters. 

“You’re  _ so sloooow _ .” Lance drawls from the floor by his bed. Keith doesn’t bother to reply to that, instead choosing to just start listing off the things his last maid had wrote down for him.

“‘Make sure you keep the wardrobe organized by color’”

“What?” Lance scrunches up his nose in confusion.

“‘Do not- ‘not’ all capitalized- allow him to light any lanterns himself. Make sure there is a full- all capitalized- pitcher of water in his room at all times if he does.’  What the heavens have you done, Lance?”

“Hey, wait-” Lance stands up from the floor and tries to grab the paper out of Keith’s hand but he sidesteps him and runs to the other side of the bed.

“‘If he is upset, read him a book. Prefers romance.’ That’s so sweet, which book is your favorite?”

“Keith, that’s not funny!” Lance huffs and jumps onto the bed and tries again to grab the paper, failing miserably. Keith continues to read louder as he walks across the large room.

“‘Don’t be afraid to ignore his bell at night. He never needs anything and just wants to talk. Most of the time it is to complain’”

“Oh! I can’t believe she said that!”

“‘Make sure you do not touch his lion, it is very personal.’ what’s your lion?”

“None of your business!”

“Oh, is it a stuffed animal? That’s cute, Your Highness.” Lance’s face goes read and he groans and flops back on the bed, pulling the covers over him and rolling up in them.

“‘He does not like tea. Be discreet while swapping his tea for juice, for he does not like others to know he dislikes tea.’” Keith folds the paper and puts it in his pocket before heading over to bed to pull on the covers, attempting to drag Lance out. “Oh, don’t mope. They aren’t too bad.”

“You’re making fun of me!”

“Well, yes.” Lance groans loudly and peeks his head out, scowling at Keith. “I think they are all very cute, though. Much better than the list your brother told me. Much,  _ much  _ shorter, too.”

“Ugh! He doesn’t even  _ care  _ about all of that stuff! He just does it to mess with his servants.” Lance rolls his eyes and sits up. Keith can’t help but focus on how beautifully red Lance’s face is, and coughs into his fist when he realizes he’s taken a few seconds too long to reply.  

“At least he doesn’t seem to need extra caution when lighting his lights. Can I ask how many times you have started a fire in your room?”

Lance scoffs and turns his head away. “You may not.”

“What about the books? I need to know which ones you would prefer me to read to you.”

“Oh, shut up. I’m not going to make you read to me.”

“To be fair, I highly doubt you  _ made  _ Alice read to you, either. But I’m sure, like I, she wanted to. Please tell me?” Keith speaks softer now, and tries tugs on the blanket again, gently, and it comes off the young prince right away.

“Fine. Can you bring me my breakfast first? I want to eat in bed.”

“Of course, My Prince.” Keith starts to bow but is knocked over when a pillow hits him hard against his side by a squeaking Lance.  

“You’re ridiculous! No bowing!” He covers himself back up, ignoring Keith’s laughter as he leaves to get his food.

 

 

It’s almost too much to carry on his own, and he wishes he had practiced balancing trays on his arms more before he started. He thanks every God he’s ever heard of when he finally makes it back to Lance’s room without dropping anything, and then makes a mental note to thank every new God he hears about in the future as well when he enters to a changing Lance.

“Um..” Keith chokes out and his arms wobble a bit when Lance turns around, his shirt still off.

“You can set it on the table by the window.” Lance lifts his arms to pull his shirt on over his head, and Keith thinks he’s going to have to actually start going to shrines now and leave gifts.

He turns towards the table quickly but he still didn’t miss the pull of Lance’s muscles, or the two dimples on his lower back. This is worst yet best thing he’s ever seen. Keith gently sets the trays down on the table and stares out the window, not wanting to risk turning back around.

“Are you going to sit?” Lance asks as he takes a seat himself, motioning to the chair on the other side of the table.

“Don’t you have things for me to do?” Keith slowly sits down, but keeps his legs out from under the table incase he needs to stand up and leave to do something else quickly.

“Oh, please. The sun’s barely risen. I doubt you’ve eaten anything, right?” Keith shakes his head and Lance tutts at him. “Of course you haven’t. Well, it’s a good thing I requested more than I usually eat for today.”

“For… me?”

“Duh. Now eat, I can’t have my servant starving all day, can I?” Lance smirks at him, earning a punch to the shoulder. “You are so mean to me!”

Keith just shrugs and stays quiet the rest of the time they’re eating. He doesn’t exactly know what to say about Lance requesting extra food be made just so he can have breakfast with Keith. He doesn’t really know how he should feel about any of this. Excited, yes. Because he’s able to spend time with Lance and that makes him happy. But how excited is  _ too excited _ ?

Not to mention how much he cares for Lance way more than he should. He’s trying his hardest to not get too mixed up in his feelings, but his strength is limited to physical. Put a sweet, cute boy in front of him, and his mind is weak. Now, make that boy shirtless, and it’s like his mind has just melted. Just sitting there in the bottom of his skull, a sad sloshy mess that he’s still trying to cool down and solidify so he can just focus. If he could only just  _ focus _ , he could control his emotions. Which is what he really, really needs to find. Control. He’s not going to be any help to his brother if he ends up doing something stupid like just leaning forward and k-

“-eith?... Keith, are you okay?”

“I’m…” Oh, has he been staring at Lance this whole time?

“Okay? Are you okay?” Lance who’s looking at him worriedly. Lance who’s now reaching over the table to press a hand to Keith’s forehead.

The touch makes him blush, which probably doesn’t help his overheating issue, and most likely doesn’t help Lance convince he’s not coming down with a fever.

“I’m okay! I’m good. I’m… okay.” Keith leans back in his chair and begins to eat, staring intensely at his plate.

“Are you sure? You’re being pretty weird.” Lance is still looking at him like he’s a second away from dragging Keith to the resident doctor, which would not be good. Keith doesn’t know how he would explain why he’s heating up so bad and “I have an obnoxious crush” would do him any good.

“I’m just… not a morning person. I’m still tired.”

“Oh! Well, my lessons don’t start until noon, so we could take a nap, if you’d like? The bed is still a mess anyways, we can just fix it afterwards.” Lance offers before popping three large grapes into his mouth. His ridiculous expression helps soften the blow of the thought of taking a nap.  _ With _ Lance.

And he shouldn’t, because he’s  _ trying  _ to be strong and not let his feelings get the best of him.

But then Lance smiles at him, and he’s reminded how weak he is for this boy.

“That sounds… really good.” Keith sighs out.

“Okay! We can finish eating when we wake up. I’m sure we’ll have time. If not, it’s not like I haven’t been late to a lesson before.” Lance stands up and grabs Keith’s hand to lead him to the bed.

“Have you ever been on time?” He’s still in a daze, but still can’t help give Lance a teasing smile when he turns around to pout at him.

“Once, I think. My teacher thought the only reason I had to show up on time was because the lesson was cancelled and I was excited to tell her so she started packing up her things before I said anything.” Lance climbs on the bed and pulls Keith on with him before letting go so he can situate himself in the very middle of the bed.

“Oh? How’d she react when she found out you were actually there for class?” 

Lance grins at him and Keith is already letting out a deep sigh at what he knows Lance is about to say. “I didn’t tell her, I just watched her pack up and leave.”

“You are truly a horrible child.” Keith laughs and starts to lay down on his back a few inches away from Lance, but is stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

“Keeeith, what are you doing?” Lance whines and tugs on Keith’s arm until he falls over, half on Lance. “Have you never taken a nap with someone before?”

“Uh, I-... no?”

Lance’s eyes go wide and he grins. “Here, just-” He begins moving around, pulling Keith this way and that until he’s seemingly content with their position and he relaxes his body and shuts his eyes.

Lance is on his back with one arm around Keith- who’s on his side, practically hugging Lance with his whole body. He knows his arm that both of their arms that are being laid on are going to be asleep and tingling when they wake up, but Lance doesn’t seem to care. Keith doesn’t care all that much either, not when his other arm is so comfortable bent across Lance’s stomach and on his chest with Lance’s free hand in his. Especially not when his own head is also laying on Lance’s chest, giving him a great view of Lance’s thumb rubbing circles into the back of his hand.

It’s more physical contact than they’ve ever had before. Usually they only hold hands or lean their heads on each other. But this is-

This is a lot. Keith can’t stop his heart from beating wildly while the rest of his body tenses up. How does Lance seem so calm like this, like it’s something they’ve been doing the entire time they’ve known each other. He’s still not entirely used to physical contact and it’s almost too much, but at the same time this feels like the safest place to be to him.

“Keith, I thought you are tired?” Lance whispers and it shocks him out of his thoughts.

“I am.”

“Then shut your eyes and go to sleep.” Keith lifts his head up a bit to peek at Lance. “That’s not shutting your eyes and going to sleep, Keith.”

“Fine.” Keith takes a deep breath and lays his head back on Lance’s chest, closing his eyes tightly. His shoulders are still tense, but Lance starts humming softly and that combined with the soft thumb rubs eventually help him relax enough to start falling asleep.

He’s just about to lose consciousness, when the humming stops for a few seconds and he feels Lance shift the tiniest amount to place a kiss on the top of his head before resuming the gentle tune and relaxing again. Keith can’t stop the giddy smile from appearing on his face as he holds Lance tighter and falls asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Picking up !! Picking up !!! Sorry it's been kinda slow so far aaaa


	8. How do you feel?

It's a normal thing now, their co-napping. Keith will wake up as early as possible to bring Lance breakfast before slipping into bed with him and falling asleep for a few hours. He's never felt more well rested in his life, and he can tell the same goes for the young Prince. Which seems silly to Keith, because if he had grown up with such a comfortable bed, he never would have had trouble falling asleep in his life. 

The soft bed, though, isn't his favorite part. No, the best thing about this is the feeling of Lance's lips on his forehead before they fall asleep, and once again to wake him up. It causes his stomach to twist in an oddly pleasing way. It makes him restless yet relaxed at the same way and he never wants to feel any other set of lips on his skin. Never wants to feel anyone else's hands gently run up and down his back while trying to coax him awake with words whispered into his hair. 

He can't think of anything better than waking up with Lance holding him. And it should make him worried. Should make him stop getting into bed with him because this is a dangerous thing, developing feelings for a Prince. It's a dangerous thing to want more and more dangerous to know that Lance would give it to him if he only asked.

But he is as greedy as any other person in love, so he asks. 

Not with words, because he has never been good at that. But actions, that is something he can do. 

So as he finds himself waking in Lance's arms again, feeling those soft lips as his eyes crack open, he can't help but lift his head to give Lance a kiss of his own. It's the gentliest he can recall ever being, placing the lightest touch of his lips on Lance's cheek. Perhaps too close to his mouth, if either of them cared.

"That-" Lance stares at him with a mix of confusion and awe. Which is understandable, since Keith has never kissed him nor outright acknowledged Lance's kisses.

"What was that for?" He practically breaths out, holding a hand to his bright red cheek where Keith had kissed him.

"You are always kissing me, I thought it would be nice to give you one, as well." 

"Oh, thank...thank you." 

And just because he loves Lance's flustered reaction so much, and because he's greedy, he kisses the other cheek. 

Lance let's out a tiny squeek when he exhales and Keith can't help but laugh. "What was that one for?" It sounds as if he's trying to seem annoyed, but the starstruck look is still in his eyes when he looks up at Keith. 

"Well," Keith drawls on, pausing to give another quick kiss to Lance's jaw, "you have given me a _lot_ of kisses." Lance nods, as if that's a prefectly good reason for Keith to be placing kisses all over his face and neck.

"Do... Do friends usually... Do this?" He asks with a shaky voice as Keith presses his lips to the corner of his mouth. 

Keith pauses for a second, not removing his lips from Lance's skin when he answers. "Probably not. Were you kissing me as a friend?" He kisses the other side of Lance's mouth before pulling away to look at him. 

"No. But I... Was not sure how you felt... About me."

"And do you know how I feel now?" Keith punctuates the question with a kiss to Lance's nose.

"I don't know." He furrows his brows and sighs. "You didn't seem to want to be friends at all in the beginning. And I understand why, with your job and all, but I don't want to assume things even now."

Keith sighs and runs a hand threw his hair. Lance is right about him being wary in the beginning, but that's in the past and even though the dangers are still there, it doesn't matter anymore because, "I care about you, Lance. More than I can find words for." 

Keith brings one hand up to caress Lance's cheek while the other reaches to hold one of Lance's hands. "I've never met anyone as sweet as you. And I mean it when I say that being with you, no matter how long, is worth risking everything."

Lance doesn't reply to that, can't form words to say anything. So he does the next best thing and rushes forward to kiss Keith. Properly. 

It's awkward at first, neither of them really expecting it despite all the signs before leading to it, but they quickly relax into each other. Kissing Lance like this is far better than all those chaste kisses he's been given. This is full of so much more emotion. He can feel how desperate Lance is and he can only hope that Lance can tell how much Keith has wanted this as well. 

They aren't able to break apart for air for more than a couple seconds at most, both too eager to be as close to each other as possible. Both feeling too much to fathom the idea of being apart at all. Both having been waiting so, _so long_ for this, letting go doesn't even cross their minds. 

Until, and maybe Keith jinxed it when he brought up risking everything for this, the door opens without a single knock.

"Lance! You won't believe what-!" Marco stands in the door way, eyes as wide as possible as he watches Keith jump off of Lance so fast he falls on the floor. Lance doesn't move an inch, frozen to his spot leaning up against the headboard. He's breathing so hard it hurts and he can't tell if it's from kissing so long without air or because his brother just caught him and Keith together in bed.

Either way, they're fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Im so sorry i havent updated in a while! Ive been having a pretty hard time with writing. Im also sorry for such a short update but its the most i could do atm. I hope you liked it <3  
> Feels good to finally let them kiss. Too bad it ended like that haaha  
> I'll try to get more up soon !


	9. I'll find a way

The room is silent for what feels like hours before Lance’s brain catches up and he screeches, jumping forward to grab his quilt and cover his body with it despite still wearing clothes. His eyes are wide and he can’t feel his heart as he stares at Marco, who finally drops his hand from the door handle and narrows his eyes. His gaze goes back and forth between Lance and Keith while he tries to piece together what he seen before seemingly coming to a conclusion. 

 

Marco walks over to Keith and pulls him up by the arm, as roughly as he can, until he’s standing. “Harming anyone in the Royal family, or of nobel blood for that matter, is punishable by death,  _ servent.”  _ His spits out the last word and tightens his grip, causing Keith to wince. 

 

“He didn’t hurt me!” Lance jumps to the edge of the bed and reaches out to grab Keith’s other hand and tries pulling him away from Marco. 

 

“I seen him, Lance! He was about to-”

 

“We were kissing!” Marco’s eyes go wide at Lance’s confession and he drops Keith’s wrist. “He wasn’t hurting me, I swear!” 

 

“Lance,” Marco sighs and covers his face with his hands while he shakes his head. “Please tell me you are not seriously trying to court a  _ servant.”  _ When Lance doesn’t reply, because he can’t lie about it anymore, Marco’s expression changes from surprised-and-annoyed to surprised-and- _ devastated.  _ It makes the anxiety that was already brewing Lance’s stomach bubble up even more and he feels nauseous. 

 

“You better not lecture me about this because I don’t care at all about social statuses!” Lance rambles on, determined to prove there’s nothing Marco can do to convince him to leave Keith.  “It’s not like I am going to be King anyways, so who cares who I decide to be with? All these traditional ways of doing things are frustrating. I mean, if Hunk is allowed to marry a commoner than why shouldn’t I be allowed to as well?” 

 

Keith looks shocked at Lance’s comment about marriage but doesn’t comment. Partially because he’s sure that Marco would throw him in a cell for speaking up while they’re having this discussion, and partially because he’s never thought about marriage before but if he’s being honest, Lance would be an  _ amazing  _ husband so he doesn’t have anything to say against it. He can’t reassure Marco that  _ that’s not where this is headed, don’t worry, it’s just temporary fun.  _ He can’t speak words he feels so strongly against. He can’t exactly say the opposite either, though, for they have only just confessed their true feelings and talks of marriage are too fast for having just kissed for the first time. Still, he hopes they won’t have to put an end to what they have before they get the chance.  

 

Marco’s posture stiffens and he grabs Lance’s arm this time to pull him off the bed and towards the door. “We need to have a talk with father.” 

 

“What!?” Lance stops walking, trying to tug his arm out of Marco’s grip. “We do  _ not  _ need to tell him about this! He is stressed out enough with the threat of the Galra attacking!” 

 

“King Zarkon proposed a peace treaty. There will be no attacks.” Lance grins at that, already thinking of all the trips he will be able to make when he’s allowed to safely leave the castle grounds- but then Marco grabs him again, tighter, and carries on. “I came to talk to you about it but it seems that it would be best for Father to tell you.” There’s that devastated look again, softer but still there. 

 

Lance furrows his brows in confusion and stays still, refusing to walk until he knows what’s going on. “Tell me what?” 

 

“Lance, please just talk to father about it instead, I don’t want-”

 

“No. I don’t see why you can’t tell me yourself.” Marco’s eyes flicker to Keith, who’s hunched in on himself while trying to discreetly watch the two princes, and back to Lance quickly, but he still catches it. “Oh, stop. I would tell Keith right away anyways if he weren’t here to hear it himself, so just say it.” 

 

“I really don’t think it’s a good idea if he hears it from me-”

 

“Marco!” Lance glares and impatiently motions with his free hand for him to spit it out. 

 

Marco sighs and looks at the ground. “Zarkon is looking for a suitor for his son, Prince Lotor.” 

 

“Oh.” Lance breaths out and turns to look at Keith, both of their eyes wide as possible at the unspoken meaning of Marco’s statement. Lance regrets pushing him, now. Regrets never bothering to consider the possibility of his Father basically signing him away to another. 

 

“Veronica is already betrothed to Princess Allura and I don’t exactly… have an interest in men… So…” 

 

“I’m the only one left.” Lance mumbles to himself. It hurts for him to say it, hurts to even think it.

 

“I’m sorry, Lance, I am. But you cannot continue whatever this is if you are promised to another.” 

 

“I didn’t promise  _ anything!”  _  It’s not how it works, Lance knows. He can still recall every lesson and discussion with his teachers and father, even a few with Veronica, about how it’s expected of him sooner or later. Talks of how he is expected to marry some prince or princess for either appearances or diplomatic reasons, maybe high ranking nobles, even. But even so, all of these talks have been about marrying in order to be crowned or in order to rule alongside his spouse in a kingdom that is not his own. He had hoped, with everything he had and more, that since he is not next in line to be king, falling behind his older siblings, and he is not exactly fit to rule, an exception could be made. Or maybe they would forget. He has been 18 for over a year now, which is considered ridiculously old to not be betrothed or married already. 

 

“Lance,” Marco looks at him with those sad, pitying eyes, and moves his hand down to hold Lance’s, instead of his wrist. He gives a squeeze before continuing. “I know this is… Not ideal. But it could pose a great threat to turn it down. Uniting our kingdoms would bring peace for centuries. The Galra would not be a threat, and no other King would be dumb enough to attack if the Galra are on our side.” 

 

“That’s-” Lance feels like he’s going to either cry or have a panic attack, and the feeling only grows when he looks back towards Keith. He’s still standing still, staring at the ground now with his hands balled tightly against his sides. It hurts to look at him now, hurts to see him look so heartbroken, but Lance can’t tear his eyes away. “I don’t want harm to come to our people. But I cannot marry someone when my heart belongs to another. Surely there is another way to calm the tension? You’re supposed to be the best at diplomacy! Can’t you fix this?” Lance turns to face his brother again, hoping the tears on his cheeks will prove to him how much he  _ can’t do this.  _

 

“Perhaps it is best we talk to father about this. I’m sorry I can’t do more for you, Lance.” He lets go of Lance and heads to the door, looking back and motioning him to follow.

 

Lance takes a deep breath and turns towards Keith instead to hug him tightly. 

 

“I will fix this, Keith.” He says, as softly as he can. 

 

“What if you can’t? I’m only a servant, anyways, I’m not worth the-” Lance cups his cheeks and tilts his head up so they’re looking each other in the eyes for a moment before leaning forward and kissing him. It’s nothing big like earlier; their lips stay closed and it tastes like the salt from their tears and they are both shaking far too much, but the emotion behind it is no less strong. Keith can already feel the promise before Lance pulls away again. 

 

“You are worth more to me than the sun and stars, Keith. I  _ will  _ find a way to call this engagement off, even if I have to fight on a battlefield myself.” 

 

Keith can’t help but let out a little huff of a laugh, his smile is barely there but it’s enough to get Lance grinning again. “Do you even know how to fight? Your arms are thinner than every sword in this kingdom.” 

 

“Mmm. I am not good with swords, but my aim with a bow sure is something to brag about.” He gives one more quick kiss to Keith’s cheek before pulling away completely. “Wait for me here. I will be back as soon as I finish with my father.” 

 

Keith’s smile stays on but it’s noticeably tighter as he watches Lance turn away and exit the room. As soon as the heavy doors shut, he drops to the ground and curls in on himself. 

 

He shouldn’t have gotten ahead of himself and kissed Lance in the first place. Hell, he probably shouldn’t have accepted the walk the first time they met. He knew it would only end in one big mess, but he’s already accepted that he is the absolute worst at making decisions. Even if he  _ knew  _ it would hurt him in the end.

 

Now, as he slowly pulls himself onto the bed to trap himself under the thick blankets, there’s nothing left to do but hope that Lance will return with good news. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> LMAO sorry this tiny ass chapter took so long to post. I started it like a month ago then kinda forgot abt it but i seen a bunch of Kudos notifications for this in my email n was like... huh should probs not make yall wait longer.   
> I'll do my best to get more out soon! Thanks for being so patient! <3


	10. Chapter 10

_ “Your Father was such trouble when he was younger.”  _

 

_ “Papa? Are you  _ sure?” 

 

_ “Oh, of course. It's one of the things that made me fall in love with him. He was always playing pranks around the castle and flirting up a storm during parties. He was always being disciplined for ignoring rules or misbehaving around guests.” _

 

_ Lance looks up at the Queen from where he sits in her lap, eyes full of wonder and love for his mother and the stories she tells him.  _

 

_ “Now believe me, he was a bit of a handful when we both met. I was not a fan of joining diplomatic meetings when he was present, at first. I thought him to be too vain and irresponsible, but he was also sweet in a way no one else seemed to be. Where other Princes’ thought themselves to be worthy of my hand simply because their title, he was the only one who treated me as an equal. Like he knew I was strong on my own the moment he met me.” _

 

_ “I think you are stronger than Papa.” Lance grins and she looks down at him to place a kiss on his cheek.  _

 

_ “Thank you, my Prince.” The Queen sits up straighter, pulling him higher in her lap and wrapping her arms around him tight. “I hope you, too, will one day fall in love with someone who makes you feel happier than you thought possible.”  _

 

_ Lance looks concerned at that, seemingly hesitant to speak up. “Miss Vivian said you and Papa will decide who I marry. What if I don't love who you pick?” _

 

_ “Oh, heavens no, baby. I would never arrange for you to marry someone you do not truly love. Your father and I were fortunate enough be given a choice in who we married, and I promise you and your siblings will be as well. Besides, Miss Vivian is supposed to be teaching you piano. Next time she tries to tell you anything about your future that does not include your next recital, remind her what we are paying her for.” _

  
  


_ **** _

  
  


Lance walks quickly to his Father's study, not allowing Marco to catch up in his haste to deal with this mess as quick as possible.

 

Veronica may have been betrothed to someone she hadn't known at the time, but after meeting Princess Allura she had been excited. Lance, however, knows for a fact already he will not be happy with the Galra Prince. Not to mention he was already on his way to falling in love with someone else. Not yet strong enough to propose or even rival the love his parents had for each other, but he knows his feelings for Keith are only growing and being torn from him will break his heart. Surly his father would understand. 

 

He doesn't pay attention to the loud huff his father lets out when he slams the double doors open dramatically to storm in the room. He's glad Veronica isn't present, though. She would have reprimanded him for it. 

 

“No.” Lance says as soon as he locks eyes with his father. He stands in the middle of the room with his arms crossed, hoping to look more confident about this conversation than he feels. His father only huffs again, louder to rival his sons dramatics, and leans back in his chair at the large desk. He opens his mouth to reply but Lance cuts him off. 

 

“I am  _ not  _ marrying the son of the man trying to hurt our people. The man who  _ has already  _ hurt our people!”

 

“Lance, please-”

 

“If the Alteans were able to talk through a treaty that did not involve marriage, then you should be able to as well.”

 

“Lance. You  _ know  _ King Zarkon only agreed to work around that because King Alfor told him his daughter was betrothed already. Although it was a lie until we agreed to the marriage, he still did not know.”

 

“Tell him my hand is already taken, then!”

 

“He knows you are not promised to anyone. He contacted all noble families on this land to make sure none have arranged a marriage with you.”

 

“Tell him I am marrying someone across the ocean!  _ Please,  _ Father! I can't marry him!”

 

“Lance.” His father gives him a genuinely apologetic look that makes Lance feel the tears in his eyes well up even more. Maybe fighting this  _ is  _ a lost cause. Maybe he just wasn't meant to fall in love. Lance stares hard at the ground and there's a few beats of silence before his father speaks again. 

 

“We are not announcing the engagement yet. There will be a ball in two weeks where you will meet Prince Lotor. After that we will decide the details of the marriage. The only thing that has been decided is that the wedding will not be until after Veronica's, so you still have some time until you leave.”

 

“Until I-” oh. Lance lets out a choked sob as he finally starts crying, glad he can't see his father's expression through his watery vision. “You're sending me away. To live with a man I do not, nor will I ever, love.” 

 

His father doesn't reply, which he is also glad for. He doesn't think he would be able to stand hearing his voice right now. 

 

Marco finally arrives, then, but as soon as he pushes the door open Lance turns to leave. He knows this conversation is far from over, details he still needs to hear, but he is too overwhelmed to stay. 

 

“Mother would have been so disgusted in you.” Lance says before he shoves past his brother and exits, not as pleased with the hurt, shaky gasp his father lets out as he thought he would be. 

 

It's beyond unfair, to have his mother and father continuously tell their children stories about how they fell in love. How they had the  _ choice  _ to fall in love. Only to take that same choice taken away from them as soon as one parent was gone. 

 

Lance understands, he truly does, why Veronica had been put into an arranged marriage. Altea had been in the same position they are in right now, but worse due to being a smaller kingdom as well as during a time the Galra were far more ruthless. Now, the Galras’ weakening military state seems to be due to (rumors of) their King falling ill. So while they are lucky they are not being attacked nearly as violently or as frequently as Altea had been, they aren't as lucky to be dealing with a King who is more desperate than ever to get what he wants before his time is up. 

 

And what he wants seems to be either their land, or a husband for his son before he takes his fathers place. 

 

Still, he doesn't doubt that, had his mother been alive, she would have been able to prevent both Veronica and Lance from arranged marriages. He had hoped his father would have continued to honor her passion when it came to wanting her children to marry purely out of love. 

 

As it turns out, Lance is not too lucky. 

  
  


****

  
  


Lance makes sure to lock all five bolts on his door when he gets to his bedroom. There is no way he is leaving for any reason whatsoever until  _ he  _ wants to. It's all he can do at the moment to give himself a sense of control over what he does. He knows someone will be sent to fetch him for his daily lessons, but he also knows that no one can make it through his locked door. Perks of safety precautions in case of an invasion, he supposes. 

 

Drying his eyes enough to see clearly turns out to be pointless. As soon as his eyes land on Keith, sitting on the floor against his bed, he starts crying once again. Lance's obnoxious sob seems to startle him more than the heavy click of the deadbolts and he looks up with wide eyes. 

 

“That didn't take long,” Keith states to himself more than to Lance. It's true; Lance had been back far too soon for it to mean anything good. The crocodile tears on his cheeks only give the conclusion an even worse sense of finality. 

 

Lance doesn't reply, instead rushing to Keith's side on the ground. 

 

“Come on, let's get you on the bed.” Keith lifts Lance up instantly and positions him on the bed, not minding one bit that he has to pick him up due to Lance's refusal to help stand on his own. Once he has the prince sitting, Lance takes it upon himself to fall over and shove his face into a pillow. It almost swallows his whole head with how soft and feathery it is, and Keith would have laughed if the situation wasn't so heartbreaking. 

 

“I take it the King is unswayed?” Keith asks quietly as he lays down next to Lance and rubs small circles on his back. 

 

“I didn't-” Lance starts speaking into the pillow before lifting his head up when it comes out too muffled. “I didn't have time to argue it much with him. I- I mean, I could have, but I'm far too upset to be able to think clearly and I don't want to say something that puts you on the spot.”

 

Lance shuffles around until he's on his side, face pressed into Keith's chest. “I'm sure he won't be harsh with a punishment if he finds out about us, but I can't promise he won't make you leave the castle. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't see you again. And- and you said you are only working here to send money back to your brother and I can't let you lose your job. I'm so sorry I couldn't-”

 

“Hey, hey. Calm down.” Keith pushes him back a few inches to look him in the eyes. “None of this is your fault. I am sure everything will work out in some way or another.”

 

“Prince Lotor is visiting for a ball in two weeks.” Lance blurts out and almost starts crying again just at the thought if being in the same castle as the other Prince. “My father said that is when they will announce our engagement.”

 

“When, um, when will the wedding be?” 

 

“Not until after Veronica's wedding next spring. So I am assuming in the summer.”

 

“Okay… okay, so we have just under a year. That's… that's fine, I am sure that is enough time to figure something out.”

 

Lance groans and shoves his face back into Keith. “I am done talking about this. At least for now.”

 

“That seems fair.”

  
  


They lay in silence for a bit, long enough that Keith thinks Lance to have fallen asleep, but before he can allow himself to sleep as well, the Prince suddenly gasps and pushes Keith away to sit up. 

 

“Let's run away!” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is p much just a fic i work on when im bored but im too stuck on another fic to work on tht so my writing for this is kiiinda low effort. But you should give me some constructive criticism on my writing.  
> Or tell me what you like about it?  
> Pls just give me more motivation


	11. Promise?

“We can't do that, Lance!” Keith stresses, sitting up but not making any further move to get away. “You  _ just  _ said you don't want me to lose my job so I can continue helping my brother. How do you think  _ running away  _ would help?” 

 

Lance crosses his arms and scoffs as if that's the dumbest question he's ever heard. “Well, obviously we would take him with us. Maybe we could go to Balmera? I have a friend there who I am sure would cover for us. Oh! Or we could-”

 

“Lance _. _ ” Said boy shuts his mouth as soon as he sees the look on Keith's face. Lance has never seen him look so crushed before. Sure, he looked pretty wrecked when Marco had mentioned Lance being engaged now, but Keith looks absolutely hopeless in a way that physically hurts Lance. 

 

“We- we could… um…” he lamely tries to think of more suggestions but none come up as he watches Keith shake his head. 

 

“Lance, you can't leave your family, or your kingdom, for  _ me  _ of all people.” Keith sighs and looks down at his knees. He looks almost mad now, but Lance's can't tell if he's mad at himself or at the situation. 

 

“ _ my family  _ is planning to send me away for nothing more than a treaty that King Zarkon would break anyways. If not him, then his son would. And besides…” It's Lance's turn to look away now, more ashamed with himself than ever before. “This isn't my Kingdom. Sure, my father is the King, but what am I to him other than something to trade away?” 

 

“Lance, you don't really think-”

 

“I am not even in line to rule! I mean,  _ technically  _ I am, but both Veronica and Marco would have to pass away for that to happen. Which it won't. They are both too stubborn. And even if they  _ did,  _ I have no practice in diplomacy. All of my lessons have been on  _ looking  _ and  _ acting  _ like some- some  _ helpless _ Prince who is only here to entertain. Or to, obviously, give away to be the prize of another man who I do not have any interest in. So… no. This is no longer my Kingdom if I am so easily disposable to them. I might as well do the dirty work for them.”

 

Lance huffs and takes a moment to think about what he had just spewed out, having not thought before speaking. As he opens his mouth to continue his venting (because really, everything he said was true and nothing needs fixing, but there  _ is  _ more to add) Keith cuts him off with a gentle hand atop of his. 

 

“Okay.”

 

“Uh- okay? You'll leave with me!?”

 

“I would do anything to make you happy, Your Highness,” Lance's annoyed groan at the use of his title causes Keith to smirk. “You have to promise me that you will be able to keep my brother safe, however. We will need a way to pay for transportation as well as food if we are to travel so far to Balmera.” 

 

“Oh! Do not worry. We have many extra carriages. We will surely be able to fit enough food for the trip with room for you and your brother while I man the horses. Once we get to my friend we won't have to worry about a thing, I promise.”

 

“You- you know how to man a carriage?”

 

“Oh, Keith, have some faith in me. I could practically do any job there is to do. The life of a prince is rather boring, especially when one is not allowed to join in on diplomatic matters. I had to find  _ something  _ to do when I was bored.”

 

“Hm. I will believe it when I see it. For now, can we get that rest I very much need after this morning?”

 

“You are getting too spoiled.” Lance smiles at Keith and kisses his cheek before laying down again, patting the space next to him for Keith to fill. 

 

He hasn't felt so emotionally exhausted in years but at least this time he has someone to hold him and make him feel like it's actually going to be okay. And, sure, it might have been Lance's idea to run away for good and he has no doubt that it will be easy to steal one of their many carriages and a couple horses and get away. However, and he would never admit to it, he might still be terrified of how his father will react when he finds out. It could take a few days if he pretends he is secluding himself to his room in protest of the engagement, but even then it will be a frantic rush to cross the border- almost two weeks of riding at their normal pace- before the king sends his guards out to find them. 

 

He knows he has more planning ahead of him than he might be able to handle, but hopefully it'll turn out okay.

 

He  _ needs  _ it to turn out okay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lol sorry this is so short especially since i take so long to update. Im tired n also super hate how ooc i write them so i almost abandoned this but i still get comments on it sometimes n it makes me haooy so here you guys go
> 
> Ur the best 
> 
> I promise i wont quit this <3


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